Saving Lotte Sullivan | Collingwood/Carlton

14: Lotte's Biggest Fear

Turning into the tedious apartment complex parking lot, the young man drove into apartment 13's spot as he parked his car and tried to see through the rain, his windshield wipers on the highest speed possible.

'Do I really have to run upstairs in that?' He asked himself, annoyed as he pulled his hood over his head and put his phone into his pocket, about to leave a car when somebody suddenly ran in front of him, illuminated by his headlights. She looked at the car, terrified as she bolted towards the back of the complex.

'It is 11pm at night, what the hell is she doing?' Jack Ginnivan asked, shaking his head and blinking to make sure he'd seen correctly. He quickly locked his car as he raced towards the main stairwell and hurried up it.

Entering the upstairs apartment lobby, which was really just a large landing and corridor for apartment and stair access, he looked around, waiting for her. Soon enough, the fire escape door opened and she ran in.

'Lotte, are you okay? Oh my god, what happened?' He asked, panicking as he saw her disfigured knee she was barely able to walk on. He noticed the blood pouring from her side, protruding her once nice dress and more blood soaking her dark hair. Her eye was swollen and huge, already starting to bruise. And she was frightened half to death, traumatised.

'P-p-please. He-he-he's after...after m...me' Lotte stuttered, shivering as she fell against her apartment door, struggling to stand up.

'Who's after you?' Jack asked angrily, as Lotte looked for her keys in her skirt pockets, hands shaking.

'I...I must've left them back in the car...' she whispered, tears running down her face.

'Lotte, I have to get you to a hospital. Where's the nearest?' Jack asked, pulling his phone out as he checked google maps. 'It's the hospital in Epping, or Heidelberg. You choose' he added.

'No hospitals! They'll ask how this happened to me. Ella...Ella studies. She's in med school. She can help' Lotte said, still stuttering and stumbling over her words as Jack shook his head, wondering if she was drunk. He couldn't smell alcohol on her breath.

'How did this happen? Lotte, calm down. Nobody's here, just you and me. And the other neighbours we've probably woken up' Jack explained, wondering if he should call his teammate.

'I want to go home' Lotte said, voice barely audible. Jack placed his hand against the door.

'Home is here, but help is not. If you don't agree to let me drive you to a hospital, I'm gonna have to call an ambulance. Look at yourself. You can't even walk' he said, looking at her sympathetically. The girl looked half dead.

'I ran from Bundoora' she groaned, like that would make Jack change his mind.

'You ran all the way from Bundoora? How on earth could you possibly run? You can barely stand!' Jack explained, as Lotte looked down at the floor. Her clothes were soaked from the pouring rain. The floor was all wet now.

'I was leaving...leaving the place...he deliberately smashed into my car...I had to run...I was injured from the hit and he was following me...but I slipped in the rain and landed badly on my knee...I was opposite the tram stop, and there was one coming so I hobbled over to that and got off at the shopping centre...I've just limped all the way home...he's still following me though, James. Please. You've got to help me' She said, frantic as she grabbed the front of his hoodie and looked over her shoulder by the fire escape. He didn't even bother to correct his name.

'WHO DID THIS TO YOU, LOTTE?' Jack yelled, firmly, as she shook her head and cried.

'Bloody hell. Okay, do you have an emergency contact I could call? Mum, dad? Sister? Josh?' He asked, realising he wasn't going to get an answer. She shook her head and screamed 'NO' as he mentioned the second relative.